I was first introduced to mulled wine the Christmas after my sister, Audrey, returned from a study abroad in Germany for her senior year of high school. She regaled my dad, Gene Dent, with a German holiday fixture called gluhwein, basically, a warm wine punch punched up with spices and fruit.
“She was telling us about gluhwein, a German holiday tradition and it was the first I ever heard of it and I got interested,” my dad said. “I did some research and got interested and thought it would be something fun to try from the old country and it has been a family hit ever since.”
As with any drink, drilling down into the history to find the moment a drink was created is tricky but wine, warmed and spiced for consumption, can be traced back to second century Rome. From there, it traveled with the Romans up the Rhine and Danube Rivers which brought it to Germany and the rest of the world.
It remains a signature Christmas libation in markets throughout Germany and Alsace in France.
Gluhwein, roughly translated, means “glowing-wine,” a reference to the heat of the beverage.
Wassail is the English variant and was a favorite of the barrister of holiday cheer, Charles Dickens, who wrote about a now-obscure iteration of the punch called Smoking Bishop.
The drink rears its head in Nordic countries known as “glogg,” in Slavic countries known as “boiled wine,” and in northern Italy as vin brule or "burnt wine” — all enjoyed during the Christmas season.
The recipe my dad uses is pretty fast and loose, often merely a starting point, but he says formulating your own take is part of the fun.
“Basically, it is just red wine heated and flavored with fruit and holiday spices,” he said.
Ingredients differ from region to region and taste to taste but the recipe I enjoy during the holiday often involves oranges, cloves and cinnamon.
Heat up some wine this holiday season and have a Merry Christmas.
Mulled wine
1 orange sliced & seeded
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup of water
10 whole cloves
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 bottle red wine
Bring water, sugar and cinnamon to a boil, reduce heat and simmer.
Add orange slices, cloves and wine. Heat to steaming but not simmering.
Ladle into mug and drop in a cinnamon stick
